NAB Ventures secures another $50 million to invest in fintech startups: Here’s what the fund is looking for
Australian big-four bank NAB has allocated another $50 million to its corporate venture capital fund NAB Ventures, doubling the funds available to bring the total to $100 million. The fund was launched in 2016 with an initial $50 million to invest over three years. It has backed 12 businesses to date, including property investment startup BrickX, real estate communications platform ActivePipe, and data sharing startup Data Republic. It has also made investments overseas into startups in San Francisco and Toronto. NAB Ventures general partner Melissa Widner tells StartupSmart the doubling up of the funds represents an endorsement of the program from the bank. “The board liked the innovation it was […]
CoinJar exchange lists Zcash (ZEC) offering world first ZEC/AUD order book
CoinJar has expanded its offering by listing Zcash (ZEC) in its portfolio, meaning that for the first time in Australia, cryptocurrency traders and investors will have access to a ZEC/AUD trading pair using an order-book through CoinJar Exchange. Zcash (ZEC) is a leading privacy coin and will be listed alongside Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Ripple (XRP). Traders and investors can hedge their ZEC holdings against major fiat pairings including Australian Dollars (AUD), Great British Pounds (GBP), Euros (EUR) and US Dollars (USD) to temporarily protect their portfolio from price fluctuations. CoinJar customers will now be able to send and receive Zcash with their CoinJar wallet, pay bills […]
“It takes an army”: Co-founder of pocket money app Spriggy Alex Badran on growth, getting some perspective, and securing backing from Mike Cannon-Brookes
Pocket money app startup Spriggy has seen a 380% increase in its customer base, quadrupled its headcount, and secured funding from Atlassian co-founder and Australian startup legend Mike Cannon-Brookes — and that’s all in the past 12 months. Founded in 2015 by Alex Badran and Mario Hasanakos with an initial $300,000 investment, Spriggy provides a mobile app that allows parents to give their children pocket money digitally, by loading cash onto a prepaid card for the children to use. The app also allows kids to monitor their spending, in a bid to teach them good money management skills. The startup was named as an emerging fintech star in the KPMG Fintech […]
Cryptocurrency behind Great Keppel Island’s $300 million resurrection
There was a time when Great Keppel Island was sold as the ideal place to go and “get wrecked”, a party island at the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. It then faded into disrepair and then into memory. Now an ambitious cryptocurrency consortium plans to resurrect it as a high-tech wonderland including a luxury resort, private villas and apartments, a golf course, retail outlets and a marina in what is being sold as the world’s largest cryptocurrency-backed property deal. If all goes to plan, they boast, when the development is complete Great Keppel will become the world’s largest island cryptocurrency micro-economy, a project that could bring the new digital […]
Advice Intelligence launches new world financial planning technology
Advice Intelligence (a.i.) has launched Version 1.0 of it’s software platform to financial advisers across Australia.
Wall Street has helped eliminate one of bitcoin’s biggest problems, and it could fulfil ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’s original vision’
Many crypto enthusiast long for a day when bitcoin will replace the entire financial system. But in the meantime, Wall Street might actually be helping the digital asset’s long term adoption, one firm says. New data from SFOX, the cryptocurrency trading technology firm, shows that 2018 has witnessed a drop-off in price variations on digital asset exchanges. The firm argues that trend is tied to the entrance of large Wall Street firms into the market, which makes it more stable. “Before institutional firms were actively trading crypto or heavily involved (before 2018) bitcoin price differences between exchanges varied as high as 4.5%,” said Danny Kim, head of growth at SFOX. […]
Neo-lender raises $4m in capital
A neo-lender has raised more than $4million from shares, saying the investment acknowledges the transformation of the business. Wisr, which has also released its figures for the last financial year, provides personal loans and technology products to help borrowers. It will use the funds to take a more innovative approach on how loans are funded and to potentially increase margins. The capital will also assist in helping the company’s ongoing growth initiatives as part of its customer acquisition and retention strategy. Commenting on the capital raise, Anthony Nantes, chief executive officer, said, “We are delighted with the strong support we received from the capital raise. “This investment acknowledges the transformation […]
Micro-investing app Raiz – how it works
Raiz, which until recently was known as Acorns, is a micro-investing platform aimed at Australians aged 18 to 35. Raiz allows people to invest small amounts in the stock market using a smartphone app. Over 500,000 people have signed up to Raiz since it launched in February 2016, though only 164,000 of those are active users. Raiz now has $214 million under management and the average customer has a balance of $1234. Raiz Managing Director George Lucas says Raiz is a user-friendly, automated savings and investment tool which doesn’t seek to generate market-leading returns, though “the average Raiz customer has made 11% per annum since launch and 10.1% per annum […]
